Perchance to Dream
by MadamHydra
Summary: Katan has paid the ultimate price for his unswerving devotion to Rociel, but now he suddenly awakens in a world that is both familiar and yet indescribably different. It must be a dream... but whose dream?


Last revised: 08/07/2002  
Completed:    
  
[fic][AU] Perchance to Dream [teaser] (rough draft)   
  
SUMMARY:  In Etemenanki, Katan makes one last, desperate attempt to reach his beloved master Rociel, and pays the ultimate price for his unswerving love and loyalty.  Or has he?  Katan awakens to find himself in a world that is both similar and yet indescribably different.  It must be a dream... but whose dream?  
  
This is one of what I like to call my "Mirror World" fics -- seriously AU stories in which certain basic plot points are reversed or otherwise changed, so be prepared to have everything you know about the series and the characters to be ruthlessly bent, spindled, mangled, or otherwise turned upside down and inside out.  ::evil laugh::  
  
I'm still familiarizing myself with the AS fandom so any C&C greatly appreciated!  It's still just a rough draft, so please excuse the typos or other stupid mistakes.  sweatdrop   
  
Title: Perchance to Dream  
Author: Madamhydra  
Email: madamhydra@aol.com  
Status:  WIP (work-in-progress)  
Archive:    
Type: Alternate Universe  
Rating: R (for now)   
Spoilers:  entire series (volumes 1-20)  
  
********** WARNINGS ********* WARNINGS ********* WARNINGS **********  
  
   Violence  
   Obscene language  
   Mature themes (references to torture and rape, etc.)  
   SHONEN-AI (romantic male/male relationships)  
  LIME (implied sexual content)  
  
********** WARNINGS ********* WARNINGS ********* WARNINGS **********  
  
Disclaimer: (Full Disclaimers at the end) Angel Sanctuary is the copyright and property of its creator and legally associated parties.  Used without permission.  Not for profit.  
  
   ( ... ) represents internal dialogue  
   / ... / represents flashbacks  
  
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   Perchance to Dream  
       An Angel Sanctuary ALTERNATE-REALITY fic by Madamhydra  
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   teaser  
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   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
   To die, to sleep.  
   To sleep, perchance to dream. Ay, there's the rub,  
   For in that sleep of death what dreams may come  
   When we have shuffled off this mortal coil  
   Must give us pause.  
  
       -- Hamlet, in Hamlet, act 3, sc. 1, l. 62-70.   
       -- by William Shakespeare  
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
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   Pain.  
  
   But the pain of a body coming apart... of flesh shot, cut, and torn... that pain was nothing compared to the pain inside his heart.  The pain of grief, of sorrow, of devastated dreams, of lost hopes....  Compared to that pain, physical pain meant nothing, except as an obstacle to reaching the one he both cherished and mourned.  
  
   He slowly reached out his hand as the tears burned his eyes.  If he couldn't hold or embrace him... if he couldn't comfort... then, at least he had the chance to touch that poor tortured flesh just one more time.  And for a brief, final instant, remind both himself and his master of better, happier times.  
  
   He sadly watched as the madness flared in those magnificent eyes... watched the recoil... denial... rejection....  
  
   No, he wouldn't close his eyes.  He wouldn't turn away.  So many others had, but he would not.  
  
   One last sharp, searing pain and he was falling toward to the cold hard floor below....  
  
   .... and landed on his face with a painful thud, as the sound of a desperate, forlorn cry echoed in his ears.  
  
   For a moment, he stared blankly at the floor beneath him.  Instead of hard white marble, it was pale green and definitely not stone.  He lifted his head slightly and realized that he wasn't in the middle of the Creator's chamber, but somewhere else entirely.  In fact it looked exactly like....  
  
   (... a hospital room?  What am I doing in a hospital room?  How did I get here...?)  
  
   The door suddenly swung open and from the corner of his eye, he saw a pair of legs clad in perfectly tailored pants stalking toward him.  He tried to turn his head to get a better look at his visitor, but a sharp stab of pain in his neck made him gasp and freeze.  
  
   "I really wish that you would take better care of my handiwork, Katan, especially after I put all that time and effort putting you back together."  
  
   This time he lifted his head much more cautiously and glanced up at the speaker, then gasped in surprise.  
  
   "Raphael-sama!?"  
  
   The archangel lifted a somewhat annoyed eyebrow and said, "You remember my name.  And with titles, no less.  That's something, I suppose."  Calling over his shoulder, the doctor shouted, "Barbiel, help me get this idiot back in bed," he turned and glared at Katan, "where... he... belongs."  
  
   A long-haired woman briskly walked into the room and said, "Good grief!"  With their assistance, Katan managed to pull himself onto the bed.  Just that small amount of movement left him panting and trembling, to say nothing of the dizziness.    
  
   "Wha... what am I doing... here?" he whispered as he stared down at the numerous bandages covering his body.  
  
   "Recovering from some very serious injuries, what else?" Raphael drawled  
  
   "But...."  
  
   "Yo, Raph!"  
  
   Katan blinked as the Archangel of Fire, Mikael, poked his head into the room and said, "Hey, so Sleeping Beauty's finally awake."  
  
   "With a vengeance, it seems," Raphael commented drily. "I found him flat on the floor, although I don't know where he was trying to go."  
  
   "Well, it's bloody well about time!" Mikael grumbled as he sauntered into the room.  Leaning uncomfortably close to Katan, he said in disbelief, "Have you been crying?"  
  
   Katan gingerly raised a hand to his face and found the telltale dampness of tears.  Staring at his wet fingers, he mumbled, "I... I...."  
  
   (Of course I'm crying!  How could one NOT cry from the terrible sights I've seen!?)  
  
   As Barbiel tactfully handed Katan a tissue, Mikael glanced over at Raphael and said cheerfully, "Sounds like his brain's half-scrambled."  
  
   "He's lucky to be in one piece and breathing, so try to forgive him for a little disorientation.  Hopefully it's nothing permanent."  
  
   "Hah!  Wouldn't that just throw HIM for a loop!" Mikael said with a nasty grin.    
  
   Before Katan could figure out who the archangel of fire was referring to, Mikael bounded to the door and yelled down the hallway at the top of his lungs.  
  
   "HEY!  GUESS WHO FINALLY DECIDED GET OFF HIS SLEEPY ASS AND OPEN HIS EYES!!!"  
  
   Before the increasingly bewildered Katan could make sense of this particular development, he heard the sound of footsteps approaching at a run, then a slim figure skidded into view.  
  
   Still blocking the doorway, Mikael jerked his thumb over his shoulder at Katan and started to say something, but he didn't get a chance to utter so much as a syllable before being thrust out of the way so hard that he ended up careening into Raphael.  Both archangels landed on the floor in a tangle.  
  
   The newcomer took a few quick steps into the room, then stopped.  
  
   "Katan...."  
  
   The slender, elegant, deceptively delicate build.  Those mesmerizing eyes.  Eyes, which to his utter amazement, were brimming with tears.  
  
   The next instant, he was engulfed, drowning in a cloud of silvery hair.  Arms encircled him... held him as if they would never let him go.  
  
   And in his ears, that vibrant voice murmured, "Oh, Katan, you've finally come back to me!  I've missed you so!"  
  
   (Roc... iel... -sama....!?)  
  
   As Katan's mind floundered in hopeless confusion, Mikael scrambled to his feet and growled, "Rociel, you asshole! Nobody, and I mean, NOBODY!!, tosses me around like that!  HEY!!!  Are you listening to me!?"  
  
   Still lying on the floor, Raphael said acidly, "Mika-chan, you should know better than to get in his way when Katan's involved!"  
  
   Mikael whirled around and glared at his friend.  "Don't call me that!  As for you!" The redhead turned and stalked toward Rociel and Katan.  "Well!?  HEY!!!  Will you stop snuffling over him and pay attention to WHAT I'M SAYING!?!?"  
  
   Rociel finally turned his head, glared back at the fuming Mikael, and said flatly, "GO AWAY."  
  
   "CHICK--!!!"  
  
   Raphael clamped his hand over Mikael's mouth and started to drag his friend out the door.  
  
   "Oh no, you don't.  Not in my territory, and not among my patients, thank you!  I just finished patching Katan up and the last thing he needs is to be at ground zero of one of your temper tantrums," Raphael said firmly.  
  
   Katan's brain slowly began working again.  The body holding him so tightly was nothing like the decaying doll-like form he had seen and touched so recently.  And the eyes... instead of glittering madness, they were... SANE.  
  
   / Let's go back. /  
   / Let's go back to those days.... /  
  
   In a choked voice, he said, "Rociel...-sama...."  
  
   Everything came to a sudden, quivering halt.  
  
   Rociel froze, then loosened his grip on Katan and slowly leaned back to stare at him, his eyes wide with shock.  
  
   The same emotion was reflected in the stunned expressions of both archangels and Barbiel as they jerked around to stare at Katan.  
  
   Characteristically, Mikael broke the silence first.  Pulling Raphael's suddenly slack hand away from his mouth, he said, "No... fucking... way!"  
  
   Rociel eased off the bed, stood, and stepped back.  In a soft, awful voice, he said, "What... did you... call me?"  
  
   The pain of his master's withdrawal -- the loss of the warmth, the sense of being cherished, that he had never quite dared hoped for -- hit Katan like a sledgehammer to the gut.  He slid off the bed and landed on his hands and knees before his master.  He had no idea what he had done wrong, but he knew all too well the consequences of Rociel's displeasure.  Katan bowed his head and awaited his punishment.  
  
   Raphael quickly stepped forward and said firmly, "Rociel, perhaps it would be better if you leave now and let me check on Katan."  
  
   "No."  
  
   "Don't be an idiot, Rociel!  Get your ass out of here and let us deal with this!" Mikael shouted as he also moved forward.  
  
   "I said, 'NO.'"  The vibrant voice was now icy cold.  
     
   Katan lifted his head slowly.  He avoided looking at his master and glanced at the archangels, standing on either side of Rociel.  
  
   The archangel of wind looked almost bored, but some subtle hint in his body language warned Katan that Raphael was alert and prepared to... attack?    
  
   There was no such question about Mikael, who looked ready to pounce at the slightest provocation.  
  
   And Rociel was standing between them.  
  
   Although he wasn't nearly powerful enough to challenge one archangel, much less two, Katan instinctively began to struggle to his feet to protect his master....  
  
   ....then his eyes widened in disbelief as he realized the truth.    
  
   Rociel wasn't their target.  
  
   He was.  
  
   Raphael and Mikael were guarding Rociel... from HIM.  
  
   But why!?  
  
   Mikael muttered, "Why didn't I realize that the BASTARD might try something like this!?  Shit!  Where's Alex and Luse!?  We don't even know if he's the real..."  
  
   Rociel interrupted Mikael with a curt, "No.  He's real.  He's Katan."  
  
   The archangels tensed as Rociel leaned forward, reaching out to cradle Katan's face between his hands.  Katan felt his master's long nails resting on his flesh... and waited for them to dig in and draw blood.  
  
   But they didn't.  Instead, those slender fingers gently, but irresistibly lifted his chin.  He kept his gaze downcast, focusing on his master's boots, belt, anywhere except his master's face.  He was afraid to look... afraid that he would see not only anger, but madness....  
  
   "Look at me, Katan."  
  
   He slowly moved his gaze upward and flinched involuntarily at the steadily growing fury in his master's eyes.  
  
   Rociel's hands held him through the jerk, but did not hurt him for that cowardice.  And slowly, Katan began to realize that the rage was not directed at him.  
  
   His master leaned even closer, tenderly stroking his cheek with the back of his fingers.  
  
   "What has he done to you, Katan?"  
  
   "He...?"  
  
   "God.  What has he done to you?  My most precious Katan."  
  
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(end teaser)  
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Yup, Alexiel and Lucifer are around, and together!  
  
::slithers away back into the shadows, cackling madly::  
  
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Keeper of Duo's Dark Side ~~~ Duo no Seishi  
Saitoh no Koibito ~~~ Corruptor Extraordinaire  
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madamhydra@aol.com              /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/:E  
http://www.madamhydra.net/  
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The Full Disclaimer  
   All names, likenesses, and rights of Angel Sanctuary are trademarks, copyright, and property of Kaori Yuki and legally associated parties.  The characters and associated materials of these works are used WITHOUT permission for the purpose of entertainment only.  This work of fiction is not meant for sale or profit.  
   Original portion of the fiction included here is considered to be the sole property and copyrighted to the author.  
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